Published by Simon & Schuster, this book is a bridge between the publishing industry (The Golden Press) and the Bank street School experiments. What came out of it is a universal masterpiece.
The character designed by Mary Blair, “almost featureless“ as Barbara Bader points out, allows universal identification, but is also, in 1951, the precursor of the women’s lib second wave.
Even further than Ruth Krauss’ ode to freedom and imagination, Blair’s art is the promise of a world where everything will be possible for each and every little girl.

When this book hit the stores, Mary Blair was (almost) everywhere: from color stylist on Cinderella (1950), Alice (1951), Peter Pan (1953), to set designer for New York’s Radio City Music Hall shows (1949 to 1951) and as a commercial artist in the advertising field.
And, as you can see here, a children book illustrator. Only for five books, but real, long-lasting examples of her amazing talent to set color through the page.